Butternut Squash in the Compost Bin

About 5 years ago I had an extra tomato plant and nowhere to put it.  I finally decided to try it in one side of my compost bin.  I was astounded with how huge it got and how productive it was.  I've grown something in the compost bin every year since.  The last 2 years I tried cantaloupe which was marginally successful.  The vines were delicate and I had quite a battle with wood bugs.  This year I've decided to plant a couple of butternut squash plants.

I started the seeds a month ago from the last 3 seeds in my Waltham Butternut Squash package.  I hadn't realized I had so few seeds.  Fortunately 2 of the seeds sprouted, and I decided that today was the day to plant them.

One side of the bin had finished compost in it.  There were some self-seeded plants growing which had to be pulled out first.  Luckily for us, there were several potato plants which yielded tiny baby potatoes - and we enjoyed them with our dinner tonight!  The compost was surprisingly dry.  We have had quite a warm, dry spring, but I had no idea that it was that dry.  A thorough watering moistened the soil.

Waltham Butternut Squash

I dug 2 big holes, watered them well, then backfilled so that the soil around the plants would be thoroughly moistened.  The plants were popped in, protected with water bottle sleeves and container soil was added around them for weed suppression.  And another thorough watering.  Another day I'll mulch the compost with shredded maple leaves.

May is an amazing month for flowers.  The rhododendrons are mostly finished by the end of the month, but the the peonies and bursting into bloom.  Above is a closeup of Bowl of Beauty, which certainly lives up to its name.  Having grown bomb varieties for so many years and endured the staking required to protect them from the rain, I now really appreciate varieties like Bowl of Beauty which look gorgeous and are not as labour-intensive.

End of May - Things Are Flourishing!

This post will be mostly pictures so that I can compare end of May progress from year to year.

In one week, the Totem strawberries are plumping out rapidly and a few are starting to take on a bit of colour.  It won't be long now!

In my Tulameen raspberry jungle, flowers are forming.  Raspberries are always later than strawberries and mine aren't in total sun, so they're probably a bit later than most peoples'.

I have moved the cherry tomatoes from the deck.  They weren't getting as much sun as I'd thought they would.  The pots have been positioned in front of the tomato bed.  I bought a small pot of basil and split it into 3 clumps.  They've been planted at the front of the tomato bed as tomatoes and basil go very well together.

Flowers on Health Kick

Flowers are open on the tomatoes in the raised bed and so far all plants are looking very healthy.

The raised bed with the beans planted at the end is progressing well.  This bed houses beans and zucchini at the far end.  Multiplier onions and shallots are at the front.  In between, I've seeded second crops of carrots, beets and parsnips.  The half barrel in the front has a Sweet Million growing in it.  To the right is a bed of leeks with swiss chard at the back of it.  You can see the grapevine scrambling over the fence at the back of the garden.

I have 2 plantings of Italian heritage beans.  Both have been placed where they can get the maximum support.  In the raised bed, they are starting to climb up the bamboo poles which were placed inside their water bottle collars.  By the time they reach the end of the bamboo supports, they'll be well able to withstand the predation of wood bugs and earwigs.

We've been eating asparagus and the dill I planted in with the asparagus has provided new plants this year.  Dill and asparagus are a good pairing as the dill protects the asparagus from beetles - not that I've had a problem with beetles, but a little prevention could be a good thing.

May is such a wonderful month for flowers!  Irises, peonies, perennial geraniums are thriving in the central bed.

A ceanothus shrub in the garden is loud with bees.  Unfortunately they are all wild bees as it's been a few years since I've seen a domestic honeybee in my garden.

Making It Count

When you don't have a lot of soil - or a lot of room - you have to make every bit count.  Our vegetable garden is in the sunniest spot on our treed 2-acre lot.  That also happens to be at the top of a rocky plateau with nearby cedars.  This is why our garden is mostly composed of concrete raised beds.  The concrete beds have concrete bottoms and the drainage is above ground so the hungry cedar roots can't get in.  When you garden in raised beds, you are concentrating the nutrition you add to the garden and the soil is loose because you aren't walking on it.  Because your nutrition is concentrated, you can grow a lot more in a small space than if you were growing straight into the ground.

The original part of our vegetable garden was 2 wood-sided beds plus 2 pits that we grow asparagus in.  The wooden beds are starting to rot now and we will put concrete sides on them to create one large Three Sisters bed.  The wide side of the "vee" between the beds is walled with tires.  Unfortunately there is the top of a monster rock in the middle of the "vee" so there isn't a lot of soil depth.  It'll do, though, for the squash component of the bed.  I can grow zucchini in the tires.

The original wooden beds which become the Three Sisters bed

We have used tires elsewhere in the garden as well.  Stacked 2 high and filled with rich soil, they create a container that I will grow cherry tomatoes in.  There are also 2 half-barrels that will also be used for cherry tomatoes.

Make-do containers for cherry tomatoes

In addition to the raised beds, on the north side of the plateau lies what was supposed to be the rose bed.  It has now become the rhubarb bed!  The soil here needs lots of building for the 6 rhubarb clumps.  Each spring, I add compost to the plants and then heap on a thick layer of unshreaded maple leaves.  The maple leaves smother any weeds which have plans to take over and the leaves rot into the soil.  This will take time, but eventually the rhubarb will have the kind of soil it needs.

Almost the entire garden.

Of course flowers have a place in my garden - it's not all practical stuff!  The central bed in the garden contains perennials - peonies, delphiniums, day lilies, phlox, as well as spring bulbs - narcissi, tulips, hyacinths and self-seeded windflowers and grape hyacinths.  There was an arbutus tree in the middle, but this winter we removed it.  There will be a lot more sun for the beds to the north now.

We have also tried growing blueberries, black currants, tay berries and raspberries on the plateau but the lack of soil made it very unsuccessful.  They have now all been removed.  Off the back of the plateau we have 2 large hazelnut bushes which are producing nicely.  A couple of years ago, we added 2 more hazelnuts, the roots of which have been inoculated with Perigord truffle spores.  In a couple of years, we might be digging up truffles!

The point of all this is to demonstrate that you might not have a lot of room, but with raised beds and some creative thinking you'd be amazed at how much you can grow!